FIG 5.

T. musculis requires choline-utilizing bacteria to affect the host’s glucose homeostasis. (a to f) Eight-week-old T. musculis-free WT male mice were treated with a cocktail of broad-spectrum antibiotics (Abx, ampicillin, neomycin, metronidazole, and vancomycin in drinking water) for 1 week, rested for another week, and then administered vehicle (ctrl), T. musculis, D. vulgaris, or T. musculis plus D. vulgaris via oral gavage, respectively. After an additional week, the numbers of T. musculis (a), the relative abundance of Desulfovibrio (b), and the numbers of cutC-positive bacteria (c) in the cecal contents of the indicated mice were determined, the serum levels of TMA and TMAO were monitored (d), and pyruvate tolerance testing (PTT) was performed (e and f). AUC, the area under the curve. n = 5 mice/group. The green and blue asterisks in panel e represent the statistical significance compared to the T. musculis-plus-D. vulgaris group (green) or the D. vulgaris group (blue) versus the control group, respectively. The data represent means ± the SEM. *, P < 0.05; **, P < 0.01; ***, P < 0.001. T.mu, T. musculis.